Maruti dedicates life to Javanese dance

Maruti dedicates life to Javanese dance

By Yusuf Susilo

JAKARTA (JP): As the culture of materialism takes root here,
there remains a truly dedicated artist who fiercely clings to
artistic values and humanity -- Theodora Retno Maruti.

Maruti, 54, has devoted herself to classical Javanese dancing
since she was 5. A dancer, a choreographer and a dance teacher,
she is well-known at home and abroad.

Apart from teaching dance at the Jakarta Institute of Arts,
for years Maruti has given free dance lessons every Sunday at the
building housing the Padneswara dance group, often buying the
drinks for her students.

In the jungle that is Jakarta, the generosity of Mbak Uti, as
she is known, is something most people do not understand. This
is, after all, Jakarta, where you have to pay Rp 500 every time
you use a public lavatory.

It is "strange" that Maruti teaches something rare, the lofty
legacy of our ancestors, for free while she could monetarily
enrich herself from her work.

Many of her friends are baffled by this, including dancer and
fellow IKJ lecturer Nungki Kusumastuti, who for the past five
years has helped manage Padneswara. She said she has tried to
"enlighten" Maruti, but invariably to no avail.

Nungki, a TV/movie/commercial star, has tried to sway Maruti
because she does not want to see her always buying things for her
students, because she believes they will not grow into
responsible adults if someone always takes care of them.

And, she says, if Muruti collected some fees, Padneswara would
have its own money. And in her opinion, if Padneswara is to
develop and be able to perform twice a year, it must be
financially healthy.

Nungki may be right, but Maruti has her reasons. "I appreciate
the fraternity more than money. I will teach my students what I
learned when I was young, also free of charge. I use this
rehearsal hall for free. It would not be fair, I think, if I
collect money from them. My goal is to share with other people
what I know," Maruti reasoned, adding that she never placed her
interest above the interests of others.

Maruti learned dancing from many teachers, including the late
KRT Kusumo Kesowo (a great master at the Surakarta palace), the
late R.Ay. Laksmintorukmi, the late R.Ay. Sukorini, S. Ngaliman,
the late Basuki Kusworogo and Bagong Kussudihardjo. She also took
traditional Javanese singing lessons from the late Bei Mardusari
and Sutarman.

However, it was her father, R. Susiloatmodjo, who was a puppet
master, puppetmaker, painter, engraver and dancer, who exerted
the greatest influence over her. Her father had a very clear
stance in his life and his art: he sided with humanity.

Philosophy

Sal Murgiyanto, an observer of the performing arts, has this
to say about Maruti's father. "Just like KRT Kusumo Kesowo,
Maruti's father looked at arts as two disciplines -- the mind and
the physique. They give divine inspiration to our spiritual
existence, which is reflected in our daily behavior. In
(Susilotmodjo's) opinion, art was not to be used as a means to
earn money. This explains why his family business failed to
produce a handsome profit. As a member of the Javanese nobility,
Susiloatmodjo's humanity exceeded his concern for money or
profit. He paid his employees as if he were providing financial
help to his own relatives. That is why his family business could
not make progress. He really applied the Javanese saying tuna
sathak bathi sanak (it is all right to lose money if you get more
friends in return)."

Obviously, Maruti also adheres to this saying. She places
humanity above money, which most people in Jakarta idolize.

Sentot Sudiharto, Maruti's husband, understands his wife and
never tries to influence her. It is this social communication, he
says, that has made his wife continue her dancing career and run
Padneswara for a quarter of a century.

He who sows will reap. Maruti gives free dancing lessons; in
return, many of her friends and colleagues volunteer to help her
in her performances.

Sentot gave an example of this. In preparing for the
performance to mark 25 years of Padneswara, many people have
given a helping hand. The performance, to be held at Taman Ismail
Marzuki on March 10 and March 11, is based on the story of
Surapati, a 17th century hero, and involves over 50 dancers and
traditional Javanese singers.

Also, he said, there have been unexpected donations:
loudspeakers for rehearsals and varying amounts of cash.

The building housing Padneswara, with Maruti as the natural
mother (a term artist Danarto has introduced), looks like a
traditional rehearsal site. It is this nature of Padneswara, said
Sardono W. Kusumo, who came to see the rehearsal at IKJ last
Friday, that is the secret of Maruti's ability to help classical
Javanese dance survive in the city.

***

Maruti, nicknamed Limbuk, was born in Surakarta on March 8,
1947. She was raised in a family of artists in the compound of
Baluwerti palace in Surakarta. When she took part in the
Indonesian arts mission to Expo 1970 in Osaka, Japan, she became
acquainted with Sentot Sudiharto, a fellow artist. They have one
child, Rury Nostalgia, who is preparing to one day take over for
her mother in preserving classical Javanese dance and running
Padneswara.

According to Rury, her mother clings to the conventions of
classical Javanese dance. She said her mother has been like this
since Rury was a small girl. That is why Maruti has her own
characteristics and is incomparable in this respect. Though
following in the footsteps of her mother, Rury says she wants to
be herself, a hope she will have to work hard to realize.

"My future career will be inseparable from history and
legends, but still I want to breathe my own breath into my future
career," she said on the sidelines of the rehearsal for Surapati.

In looking back at her 25 years with Padneswara, Maruti
realized that Padneswara is her, and she is Pandneswara. This is
both an advantage and a shortcoming. Therefore, in the future,
she said she would concentrate on the artistic side only and
leave the management to Rury and her colleagues.

She said that at present she handled the management of
Padneswara along with Rury, Nungki and other artists such as
Menul, Yuni and Wati.

"Now and in the future will be the opportunity for my daughter
and all of you, younger sisters, to do something," said Maruti. A
graduate of the Business Administration College in Surakarta,
Maruti made a name as a dancer in the Ramayana dance-drama before
she set up Padneswara. She often performed at the presidential
palace when Sukarno, Indonesia's first president, was still in
office, and went on months-long overseas tours as a member of
Indonesian art missions.

Padneswara, which literally means "queen", was set up in 1976.
When she founded it, she had only her strong spirit and ambition
to preserve classical Javanese dance. Sardono and Maruti said
this spirit and ambition have never waned, even though her
efforts to preserve classical Javanese dance in Jakarta could be
likened to a kerosene lamp in a storm.

She has to fight the capital-intensive pop art industry,
changes in the community's tastes for everything global and a
view that traditional art is old-fashioned.

Although Goenawan Mohamad, a veteran journalist and artist,
has referred to Maruti's efforts as a "project to preserve
tradition", she continues to develop her career, slowly but
surely, at her own rhythm and pace.

Some of her choreographed works include Dawarwulan, Roro
Mendut, Savitri, Abimanyu Gugur, Begawan Ciptoning, Kongsodewo,
Sekar Pembayun, Palgunadi, Dewabrata and Surapati. Maruti hopes
her latest work will create a cool atmosphere, lead to
retrospection and arouse the enthusiasm (of the audience) to
unite as one nation.

May this kerosene lamp continue to flicker despite the storms.